A Third Option
by Kazima Kuwabara
Summary: Save your friends, or save the world. That's the choice Kuwabara is given. But, Kuwabara comes up with plan C.


So...HEY!! It's been awhile. So...if you pay attention to my deviant art page, which I don't expect any of ya'll to do (I swear), then you'll know i'm getting physical therapy, going to school-yup summer tyme collage, and when I can-working. I'll be moving in August so I can only hope I'll return back to normal sometime after that.

Also I'm working on a book. So...busy busy bee...

Anyhow this was written to help me get in the writing mood again so I can turn back to an ongoing fic-which I am rewriting because I got a different idea for the ending. And as normal I don't own the characters! I'll be writing a few more stories to get back in the swing of things.

* * *

It's a crucial moment. Save your friends, save the world...what's the right choice? That's up to the person. It's strange to think that decisions like these can affect the entire outcome of the world. Think about it...facing an onslaught of demons-your friends are caught and then it gets worse. Now the world is at stake, and then your friends, and you can only choose one. Do you save the world and lose the best friends...the best people that ever entered your life, or do you save them and all die together, knowing that you let the people all over the world around?

Or do you make up a third option?

"Wait! Wait...Just wait..." Kazuma Kuwabara held up his hands, his palms dirty from a skirmish he found himself in. Kuwabara licked his cracked, and bloody lips, "Just wait...how...how about I give you something better?"

A demon, who resembled a regular human looked at Kuwabara while keeping what looked like a steel pipe to Yusuke Urameshi's throat. Kurama and Hiei were just behind the demon, breathing but not moving as they both lay in rubble and mud. The demon grinned, "Yes human...what is it? Do you wish to die first? Or perhaps you wish to be rendered unconcious like your friends." The demon smiled cruelly digging the tip of the spike into Yusuke's throat, Yusuke crying out.

"I'm...I'm...I have this power you see...the Jigan-to...it can cut through dimensions right? Why...why rule one world when I can open up dimensions and you can rule them all...just let Yusuke go...and I'll do it...I swear!" Kuwabara spoke voice shaky and filled with anxiety. However the demon took Kuwabara's bait and dropped Yusuke to the ground and began walking towards the relieved and somewhat scared human. Yusuke grunted coughing up blood and looked at Kuwabara through blurry eyes, "Kuwa...bar...a...you...idiot..." Yusuke groaned before his eyes closed against his will.

_Shit._

Kuwabara had spoken that rubbish in hopes that his friends would spring up and kick some ass...Kuwabara was not one to admit anyone was stronger than him...but in this case, where this demon held everything and everyone's existence in the balance, Kuwabara had to admit, he was no match for this demon.

The demon smirked towering over Kuwabara and took the young man by the throat, and held him up to his eye level. Kuwabara saw spots dance before his eyes and choked as he held onto the man's wrist trying to gasp for breath.

"So, it's true you have that ability...heh...and you'll give that power to me...?"

"Yeah..." Kuwabara wheezed eyes bulging as he tried to breathe, "yeah...just leave my buddies...and...and this world alone." At these words he was promptly dropped and found a foot kicking his gut repeatedly. Kuwabara gasped and choked as the force of the kicks broke ribs, and made Kuwabara just about bite the tip of his tongue off. The kicking stopped and Kuwabara spat out blood and coughed, curling a hand around his side.

"You get one choice. Your friends, or this world...not both, you pest," the demon said smirking at Kuwabara's pain. The demon stepped on Kuwabara's hand applying enough pressure to cause pain, but not break the fingers. Kuwabara cried out and grit his teeth. Sucking a sharp breath in his teeth Kuwabara looked up at the demon and hissed, "Fine I choose my friends!! I'll do what you want, just leave my buddies alone!"

The demon grabbed Kuwabara by his hair and proceeded to walk away from the area, Kuwabara struggling to get to his feet. Unfortunately, Kuwabara was stumbling, and the demon walked briskly, so Kuwabara for the majority of the quick walk was dragged by his hair, his arms, legs, and face getting scraped up by the ground. Finally the demon stopped his trek, about a 20 yard walk away from where they originally were, and threw Kuwabara out in front of him.

Kuwabara's body skidded, and rolled across the ground before his leg got stopped by a tree stump. His leg shattered in three places. Kuwabara cried out and the demon laughed as if this was the funniest thing he's ever seen. Kuwabara's screams finally faded and he lay there panting. "How...the fuck do you expect me to do what...you ask when I can't even...stand?!"

"Deal with it. I'm being kind enough to spare your worthless friends...now get up and open a portal..." the demon snarled.

Kuwabara sat up first, his arms shaking, and forced himself up on his feet. After all, he had stood on broken bones before, and honestly Kuwabara had been in worse pain than this before. Kuwabara inwardly was wondering what to do...his Jigan-to didn't work like how you would expect. Kuwabara could just slash a hole into the air and open up some random dimension, but that was it. A random dimension. Unless Kuwabara could actually focus on the area, he would have no idea where the dimension led to...and Kuwabara was in too much pain to focus and try to figure out where the dimension could be.

"Well? Get to it!" The demon snapped.

Kuwabara could only hope this portal led anywhere but another world. Kuwabara's sword appeared in his hand after Kuwabara took a deep breath, and he slashed the air feeling the strands that held the dimension together cut away. On the plus side, with a whole in the dimension, Koenma would be alerted, and hopefully would send help for the others...Kuwabara doubted he himself would be alive by the time the cavalry arrived.

Kuwabara didn't even look to see where the newly created portal led to, but at the demon's growl of annoyance he finally glanced at it. The demon was looking into the dimension with an annoyed expression, and Kuwabara glanced inside seeing empty black space.

And that's when Option four popped up in his head:

**Push, evil ass villain into the portal.**

Kuwabara struck without warning, using his shoulder and forearm to ram the guy into the portal. The demon, actually taken by surprise, toppled over and into the portal. The emptiness seemed to suck him inside, and the demon let out a screech as his body seemed to be twisted apart. Kuwabara turned to run away from the portal and back to his friends, but instead he found himself crying out as the demon caught his ankle and Kuwabara found his fingers dug into the ground as the hand tried to pull him through. Kuwabara cried out as three of his fingernails flipped up, and then actual tears raced down his face as he felt the hand's fingernails pierce through his ankle.

Kuwabara didn't want to die...he knew dying for your friends...that was a noble action but...he just didn't want to die. He had promised himself a long time ago, when he saw Yusuke crying for him, that he wouldn't just sacrifice himself if he could help it. Kuwabara managed to crawl an inch forward but to no avail as he was steadily dragged back. He tried this for what felt like hours, but in truth, was only a few minitues, no more than five. The hand jerked, nails shredding through muscle, and blood squirting on the grass. Kuwabara was dragged back so close to the portal the tips of his toes tingled from a pain that the darkness inside the new dimension promised.

As his shoe was ripped off and sucked through the portal Kuwabara put his head down in the grass beneath his face, and let go, giving up.

"KUWABARA!!"

Kuwabara looked back up and felt arms wrap around his chest, the arms hooking just under his pits. Yusuke was there holding Kuwabara, and trying to tug him away from the portal, but the hand held a firm grasp. Kurama appeared next and held Kuwabara's leg down, and then Hiei arrived sword drawn. Hiei cut the hand that held Kuwabara's anlke, and Kurama tore the fingers out of Kuwabara's skin.

Kuwabara groaned in relief.

He wasn't going to die...thank God. He felt lightheaded, and sick from the fear that had overtaken his whole body.

"Kuwabara!!"

"Give him some air, put him on his back."

"Come on Yusuke, let go, lay him on his back."

The voices couldn't even distract Kuwabara from the pain, nor could Kuwabara shake is fear. Kuwabara felt his body begin to shake and as he was turned on his back, his hands came to chest, and his fingers curled in an odd way. His lips quivered and Kuwabara began to shake, as tears fell from his eyes without his permission.

"What's happening to him!?" Yusuke's voice rang out.

"He's going into shock!" Hiei's voice snapped, followed by the sound of something breaking. Hiei appeared in Kuwabara's line of sight and his mouth was pried open by the shorted demon. Kuwabara found his teeth sinking into some wood.

"Good idea...he won't bite his tongue off that way...Jesus these injuries..." Kurama whispered from somewhere at Kuwabara's feet. Kuwabara heard the sound of his clothes being ripped off and Kurama barking out instructions for Yusuke and Hiei. He was poked and prodded, he could hear more voices , including Koenma's, and even saw a glimpse of Koenma running past him towards the portal, and then everything went dark.

* * *

Kuwabara woke with a pounding headache in a room he recognized as one of the spares at Genkai's. Looking around he caught the sight of his three friends. Kurama was in a kneeling position and appeared to be meditating. It took Kuwabara a minute to realize Kurama was asleep. To Kurama's left Hiei was leaned up against the wall, holding onto his sword. Even in his sleep he looked bad ass. To Kurama's right, sprawled out with all the grace of drunken whore, was Yusuke snoring away. Kuwabara chuckled, and winced. He looked down at himself, seeing that he was naked and bare for the world to see, but there were these strange leaves on his wounds. Kuwabara had a feeling it was some sort of Kurama's medicine and hoped that it was fast healing. Kuwabara was not in the mood to be down for the count for a while.

Kuwabara's soft sounds had been enough to wake Yusuke up, and with Yusuke's joyous shout the others were awake too. Yusuke was leaning over Kuwabara grinning from ear to ear his hands hovering over Kuwabara's body but not touching him. Kurama and Hiei were in the same state as Yusuke, hands near Kuwabara but not touching him. He wanted to tell them he wasn't made out of fucking glass, but decided against it. He didn't really want them to touch him while he was naked either...

"Are you alright Kuwabara? Huh? Can you speak?" Yusuke asked nose red, looking like he could start crying.

Kuwabara smiled wearily, "I'm fine...besides being naked and covered in weird leaves...I'm feelin' better...I think."

Kurama smiled, "These leaves will heal your body and keep a fever away...I'm glad to see you awake Kuwabara...you did a very brave thing two days ago..."

"Been asleep that long?...Damn.." Kuwabara mused before coughing.

Hiei sighed sounding annoyed, "Stop speaking human, you're slowing your healing process."

Yusuke cracked his knuckles and growled, "You better heal fast man...I'm gonna kick the fucking shit out of you for that idea of yours...Jesus...sayin' you'd open up other dimensions! You stupid fuck! Why would you do that huh?!"

"Couldn't let you guys die...or let the world end or...well...you know..." Kuwabara grumbled annoyed that once his injuries healed he's be facing another beat down.

"Kuwabara you could have died..." Kurama said, his tone sounding more sympathetic.

Kuwabara shrugged, wincing a little, and sighed, "I'd rather die than you guys any day...I was just making shit up as I went along...I had to find away to save you guys alright?"

Yusuke sighed and mussed Kuwabara's hair, "You goon...think about yourself...you could have died."

"That doesn't matter," Kuwabara said before he could stop himself.

"It does so you stupid human," Hiei snapped before Yusuke, or Kurama could say anything.

Kuwabara grinned to himself, "Look...I'm alive...Plan C and Plan D work...yay everybody wins. Now leave me alone, thank me for being a hero, and let me sleep." Yusuke and Kurama laughed, while Hiei rolled his eyes, hiding a smirk. And Kuwabara smiled thinking that he had made the best choice. He chuckled to himself as he thought, that all he had to do was keep his options open.

**END**


End file.
